Pros And Cons Of Welfare Drug Testing

The United States has many welfare programs, such a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), that provide social welfare payments to those in need. Welfare recipients statistically have a higher potential to use illicit drugs, making it more difficult to secure a job. Often, these benefits are abused by drug users those who lack the ability or motivation to find employment and become self-sufficient. Incorporating drug testing into the welfare systems allows the government to provide those with drug addictions the needed treatment and suspend the benefits from those who continue to use drug and test positive after treatment. In the long run, there will be a costs savings

“If you have enough money to be able to buy drugs, then you don't need public assistance.” Said by Jerry Sonnenberg. For years now many people have wonder why the government doesn't do drug testing when applying for welfare. Many say it's not worth spending government money on, however if the government did do drug testing it could save the government money. I believe that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit our state in different ways. I feel that if the state was to make drug testing mandatory then it would help to prevent welfare fraud. Also it could possibly save the state money in paying out welfare payments. It could possibly weed out the people that

The article, “States Adding Drug Test as Hurdle for Welfare” stated that in three dozen sates proposed drug testing for the people that are on welfare. However, people say that the tax dollars given to them are not being misused and that it’s promoting stereotypes about the poor. the article says that in Florida, people that receive welfare have to pay for their own drug tests. Also, it says that people argued that it was unreasonable to drug test those on welfare and that it was an act of search and seizure. It’s noted that drug tests are getting more and more required for getting jobs. Ellen Brandom, a state representative in Missouri said, “Working people today work very hard to make ends meet, and it just doesn’t seem fair to them that

Welfare is for people who don’t have enough income to live off of and is supposed to be for helping them out with things like food, clothing, and most basic necessities. 61% of people not on welfare are against it and believe people who receive welfare don’t use it for the intended reason and basically look at it as free money. There is 21.3% of the population on government assist. That’s approximately 52.2 million peaple participating in it right now. They get food stamps from the govt and sell them to buy drugs or alcohol which is probably the reason they are on it in the first place. If they did a drug test beforehand, then they would know to not accept that person because the money more than likely would only buy them their next high; therefore, welfare recipients should receive drug tests before being accepted.

People collecting welfare should undergo drug testing to get the money the government is giving them, because it makes welfare applicants go down at least 48 percent, it also will help the national debt go down and help people with their drug problems. There are many benefits of drug testing welfare recipients.

When the United States’ welfare program was created during the Great Depression, it was meant to temporarily relieve the burdens of the one-fourth of American families who were unemployed, and struggling financially. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Social Security Act in 1935, then amended it in 1939 to create programs to assist families with unemployment compensation, and to create government agencies to oversee these programs, including Health and Human Services. The purpose of the welfare program was to provide short-term assistance to families in need while they got back on their feet, and found new employment. It was and is still funded by the hard-earned money of American taxpayers. Since that time, government assistance programs have progressed to the point of serving 49.2 percent of the population according to 2011 statistics, released in 2014.7 Of those receiving benefits, approximately 20 percent have been on the program for over five years. These facts go against the initial purpose of the welfare program as a temporary crutch. Studies have shown that about 20 percent of welfare recipients have tested for, or reported illicit drug use (although, those numbers vary and can be higher, based on the testing method used). Taxpayers should be aware that their taxes are funding these drug users’ illegal lifestyles. Therefore, drug testing should be a mandatory

Even with an undeniable populist appeal to drug testing when it comes anyone wanting to receive government benefits that come out of Americans tax dollars, there are several negatives to this claim. Such as it’s likely to be unconstitutional, and the stereotyping of people using the welfare program. Drug testing can be considered to be unconstitutional under the fourth amendment which is a ban on

Many people may agree that drug testing people who are on or will become welfare is a great way to stop misuse of the system. Drug testing is one way to accomplish this, and their reasoning may be well founded.

Have you ever questioned the tax taken out of your hard-earned money? Questions similar to that are where the money is going and if it is being used properly. In the U.S. news recently those questions have been on a great deal of State’s minds; reaching back to 2003, this issue has been brought up time and time again. The main topic of tax money is the use of assistance money and are the recipients really using the money for the right reasons. There are many problems with the assistance program but the one that comes to mind the most is that many people abuse the money given to buy the essentials and provide, for their family for illegal drugs. The solution that many state representatives have come up with is drug testing as a requirement

Several states have recently begun to enact legislation that requires welfare recipients to submit to drug tests before they are eligible to receive any public assistance. The purpose of mandatory drug testing is to prevent the potential abuse of taxpayer money, help individuals with drug problems, and ensure that public money is not subsidizing drug habits (Wincup, 2014). While these are noble intentions, current programs are not meeting these standards.

You would think that with them drug testing these welfare recipients that they would catch more drug users, well that isn’t the case. The state of Tennessee is a prime example why the test isn’t effective at all, with them posting poor results. A year after the state started to test applicants for a welfare program, they ended up denying 30 people out of the 28,599 people who applied. This goes to show that they can’t find the people who are actually using the money they get from the welfare programs for the use of

I believe that people who receive welfare or any government funded program should be obligated to take drug test because if they continue to take drugs while receiving welfare then they are just taking advantage of the system. If the government enforce a law for mandatory drug testing to welfare recipient then possibly millions of tax payer’s money will go to those who don’t deserve as much as

The Aid of welfare is important to society for those considered financially unstable. According to the United Stated Department of Human Services, there are over 12 million citizen receiving welfare. The states of Alabama, Mississippi,Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin require drug testing in order to receive welfare. Drug testing is not an effective way to detect drug use because many have found ways to get pass the testing. As we know welfare is supposedly to meet the human’s needs but not for the purchase and use of drugs. Some says that drug test to receive assistance is unconstitutional and unfair, others believe it would be safe if child with parent who uses drugs. By randomly drug testing, those who receive assistance would help deter drug use, decrease unemployment rate, and potential savings for taxpayers.

The use of drugs is an immense problem in today’s society. The big question is, is it a problem within the welfare system? Drug use isn’t just a problem of poverty; it’s found among all groups and classes. As said in Jamelle Bouies article, The Myth of Drug Use and Welfare, “The myth of welfare recipients spending their benefits on drugs is just that—a myth. And indeed, in Utah, only 12 people out of 466—or 2.5 percent—showed evidence of drug use after a mandatory screening.” Drug testing welfare recipients is something many people have different views on. It can cause controversy; some people think we should drug test welfare recipients while others disagree. Drug testing welfare recipients has many negative outcomes that would come along with it. We should be more focused on trying to get the people back on their feet rather than finding more problems to implicate them with. Mandatory drug testing for welfare benefits is unfair and immoral and it should not happen within the welfare system. It is unconstitutional, it will cost more money than it will save us, and we should be treating drug addiction and abuse as a disease.

Drug test is a test created in order to determine if one uses or has been using any form of a non-prescribed drugs. The test can be verified in various ways. Drug testing is a common requirement held for one who is seeking future employment with a specific company. The test is also used for various businesses, private groups, and organizations. Using illegal drugs can have many bad consequences and cannot just cause serious trouble for the person using them but for the company as well. One factor that shows how it can be pointless of having to drug test one who is on welfare is because how much it costs. Issuing out drug test to people on welfare can be an expensive thing especially if the person who is drug tested test ends up coming back negative. When that happens one can say that the testing is a waste of both time and especially money. For years most people believed that being able to drug test people who need financial